Apparatus for actuating a deep well pump



March 5,- 1963 w. N. suTLlFF APPARATUS PoR AcTuATING A DEEP WELL PUMP 2Sheets-Sheet 1.

F, TR. N U0 5m m MV r m M M w @FH MAE l l M. b .w 7M d E w a N f March5, 1963 w. N. sUTLlFF APPARATUS PoR AcTuAT-ING DEEP WELL PUMP yA/EM 5072/FF INVENTOR.

rraQA/Ey Flled Jan 11 1961 Unite States 2 This invention relates to theart of actuating deep well pumps and particularly to such an actuatingapparatus which functions for a major portionrof the well depth througha pulsating column of liquid;

' It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatusin which the weight of said pulsating column of liquid iscounterbalanced by a parallel column of production liquid.

Prior efforts to hydraulically operate a pump jack at the bottom of awell have resulted in devices which were complicated to install in thewell and very dicult to recover without loss of the well. v

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatusfor actuating a deep well pump by a pulsating liquid column whichapparatus may be installed in the well and recovered therefrom bystandard production procedures and without danger of damage to the well.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide'anapparatus for actuating a deep well pump by a pulsatingliquid columnwhich apparatus may be run into the well suspended on a smallv diameterproduction fluid pipe line and be located inside the regular pump tubingstring and which vmay be readily lowered into the well onsaid line andremoved therefrom in accordance with standard production procedures.

A yet further object of the present invention is the provision of suchan apparatus in which the latter is provided with means for supportingthe same in a fixed position in the regular pump tubing string withoutrequiring an enlargement of the diameter ofthe latter.,

Still another obiect of the present invention is the provision of ahydraulic jack adapted to be lowered in a deep well with an insert'pumpsuspendedtherefromand in which said pump is adapted to bev locked inplace by a downward bumping action. l y

A yet further object of the invention is to provide such a hydraulicpu-mp jack having means responsive to the installation of an insertpumpsuspended therefrom as aforesaid to activate means provided on saidjack for supporting the same within the ordinary pump tubing string andforming a packer betweensaid jack and sad string whereby said string maybe utilized as a passage for operating liquid to actuate said jack fromthe surface of the ground.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide anapparatus for actuating a deep well pump by a pulsating liquid columnlwhich will utilize a continuous ow of operating'liquid such as generatedby a rotary pump for'the pulsation of saidliquid column.

Yetanother object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus foractuating a deep well pump by a pulsating liquid column which isadaptedfor pumping wellsiin which' the production fluid carriesfa heavycomponent of sand.

"A still further object of the invention is the provision of anapparatus for actuating a deep well'pump by'a pulsating liquid columnembracing means for preventing a gas, cushion forming beneath thepacking between the jack andthe pump tubing string, from hindering theperation of the pump, by introducing gas from this space into theproduction fluid being pumped, thereby fac'litating the upward movementof production uid through the actuating jack and the small diameterproduction uid pipe line from which said jack is suspended whenintroduced into the well. y

ice

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationSerial No. 2,185 filed January 13, 1960, now abandoned, for Method andApparatus for Actuating a Deep Well Pump by a Pulsating Liquid Column.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as furtherobjects and advantages will be made manifest in the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichFIG. 1 is a diagrammatic fragmentary vertical elevational view of apreferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention as this is beinglowered through a regulm string of pump tubing previously installedwithin a well casing of a deep well.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FlG. l, with the showing of the well casingomitted for purposes of simplicity,v and showing the pump actuating jackof the invention and the pump plunger suspended thereon lowered to apoint where said plunger rests upon a standing valve at the lower end ofsaid pump tubing string so as to release the pump jack supportingmechanism for subsequent use in supporting the jack on said tubingstring and in eX- panding the packer provided on said jack to seal oftthe space between said jack and said tubing string.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and illustrates the completion of theoperation of mounting the hydraulic jack in the pump tubing string andsetting the packer between the jack and said string. This view alsoillustrates the'pump plunger located at the lower end of its normaldownstroke.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating the pump plunger at thetop of its normal upstroke.

. FIG. 5v is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5 5of FIG. 1 and shows the four supportf ing legs of the jack as when theseare held in retracted position.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 6 6 ofFIG. 4 and showsfsaid legs expanded into the special coupling providedin said pump tubing string for receiving the same so that saidA legs mayrest on a length of said tubing which connects with the lower e'nd ofsaid special coupling and thus set the packer on the jack in sealingrelation between said jack and the section of said pump tubingconnecting with the upper end of said coupling.

FlG. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 7 7 ofFIG. 1 and illustrating an upper'portion of the pump actuating jack ofthe invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view. taken on the line 8 8 ofFIG. 1 and illustrates a lower portion of said jack and the pump plungersuspended therefrom and shows the supporting legs of the jack heldtogether prio: to these being released as aforesaid by the bumping ofsaid pump' plunger on the standing valve atY the bottom of said pumptubing string. f

FIG. 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 9 9 ofFIG. 4 and illustrates the lower portion of said jack' after it has`been installed in said pump tubing `string and said packet set againstthe latter and illus-v trates the hollow piston rod of said jack aslocated at the completion of an upstroke ofthe pump plunger at whichtime a portion of any gas accumulated at high pressure just below saidpacker is introduced in to the production iluid owing upwardly throughsaid hollow piston rod.

FIG. l0 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a preferred apparatus of theinvention for pulsating the liquid column through which the jack of theinvention is actuated.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIG. l, apreferred embodiment 10 of the apparatus of the invention is vbest shownas incorporated with arpump tubing string 11 installed in a well bore 12having a casing 13. Y

Embodied with and suspended from' the lower end of `the pump-tubingstring 11-is`-the barrel 14 of -a plunger morososA pump 15, this barrelforming a downward continuation of the tubing string 11 and carrying ashoe 16 at its lower end having a conical seat supporting a standingvalve 17. Reciprocable in the pump barrel 14 is a plunger 18 having atraveling valve 19. At its upper end ther plunger 18 has a cage 20 whichterminates in a threaded socket 2.1 (FIG. 8). The external diameter ofthe. case 20 is slightly less than that of the balance of the plunger 1Sso that one or more openings provided in said cage provide acommunication between the interior of the plunger 18 and the spacewithin the barrel 14 above said plunger.

While the pump tubing string 11 is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 asintegral with the pump barrel 14 it is to be understood that this tubingstring is made up of sections joined together by threaded collars andthat a similar collar connects the lower end of the string to the pumpbarrel 14. At a level substantially below the midpoint in the well 12and possibly several hundred feet above the pump 15 a special coupling26 is provided for connecting juxtaposed ends of adjoining Vtubingsections 27 and 28 (FIG. 9) the coupling 26 being identical with anordinary tubing coupling but somewhat longer to provide an annularrecess 29 between the adjacent ends of said sections. t

'Ihe apparatus 10 includes a hydraulic jack 30 which tits loosely withinpump tubing string 11 and which issuspended on the lower end of aproduction fluid pipeline 31 of relatively small diameter which extendsdownwardlyl within the pump tubing string 11, said jack having a hollowpiston rod 32 which extends downwardly therefromand the lower end ofwhich is threaded and screws into the threaded socket 21 of the pumpplunger 18 (FIG. 8). Thus the plunger 18 is suspended on the hollowpiston rod 32 and jack 30 so that all of these elements are sus pendedon the production iiuid pipeline 31 while being introduced into the wellas shown in FIG. l.

The hydraulic jack has a relatively long thin Walled tubular cylinder 33which is internally threaded at its opposite ends so as to screw onto anupper head 34 at its upper end and onto a lowerhead 35 at its lowerend..

The upper head has an axial lluid passage 36 and tapers upwardly to anexternally threaded nipple 37 which is connected by an ordinary pipecoupling 38 to the lower end of the production Huid pipeline 31 (FIG.7),. Y

The lower cylinder headr has a spring conining recess 39 in its upperend for confining a coiled expansion spring 46 the purpose, of which`will be. made clear hereinafter.

The lower cylinder headv 35 is. of Ithe same external diameter as thecylinder 33 and has .an axial bore 4 5 which extends throughout itslength.

At its lower end, the cylinder head 3,5'is turned down4 to provide acylindrical packer mandrel 46. and an annular packer compressionshoulder 47. The lower end of mandrel 46'. has. Va threaded nipple 48which screws into a threaded' socket 49 provided in the upper end of acylindrical downward extension 50 of said.v mandrel. 'Ihe mandrelextension 50 has four spaced guides 51, with 'at upper faces 52, betweenwhich guides leg guidteways` 53 are provided in eachrof which guideways.a flat, leaf spring 54 is mounted The mandrel extension 5.0. is. pro-Avided with an axial bore 6.0 which isA of the. same diameter as the bore45 andv forms a downward continuation of the, latter. A short internalvcounterbore 6.1 is provided in thebore 60-which counterbore is ventedto theoouter cylindrical surface of extension 50 b yV horizontal ports62.v

Slidably mounted on the mandrel extension 50 so as. to normally rest onupper at faes 5 2 of leg guides 51 isa leg mounting ring- 63 havingfour. notches 64 formed in the lower edge thereof., 'Ille ring 63 hasthe. seme outside diameter as the lower Cylinder head 35 and a rubberpacker 65, which is normally of the same outside diameter, llls thespace between shoulder 47 and ring 63.- Pivoted at their upper ends bypins 66 in the notches 64 are four legs 67 which are disposed oppositeand rest in the euideweys 53 as shown in FlGS. 5 and 6. 1 Each. of thellegs 67 has an arcuate footing 6.8 welded to .its lower end.

which is adapted to fit into the recess 29 when legs 67 are swungoutwardly as shown in FIG. 9 so that footings 68 overlie and rest uponsubstantial areas of the upper end l position as shown in FIG. 8.

The jack 30 includes a hollow piston 76 which comprises a thin-walledcylindrical shell 77 integrally united with a lower piston head 78 whichis provided axially with a tapped bore 79 into which the threaded upperend of hollow piston rod 32 screws, The piston rod 32 h as an outsidediameter which slidably iits the boresv 45 and. 60 these bores being ofsufficient length that a. relatively uid-tight seal is formed just` bythe sliding t between the piston rod and the lower cylinder head 35. Thepiston shell 77 is relatively long compared with its diameter and theupper edge thereof has a sharp bevel 80 for a purpose to be made clearhereinafter.

The hollow piston` rod 32 is preferably formed in at,

least. two sections which provides an opportunity for incorporatingtherewith a, shear collar 81 which supports a short coiled expansionSpringy 82 which is coiled. about the hollow rod 32 just above thiscollar.V

The portion of the hollow piston rod 32 locatedv above the collar 81slides freely through the ring 70. A por'- tion 83 of the hollow pistonrodl 32; adjacent, its lower; end is upset and externally threaded toreceive a. nut 84 which is adapted to be tightened downwardly upon avarying number of annular weights 85to secure these weights in place onthe upper end of the plunger 1S..

Holes 86 are provided in the cylinder 33 near its lower end and justabove lower cylinder head 35.

Operation:

The opera-tion of the vapparatus 10 involves rst the,v method ofinstalling the same in the well 12 and secondthe method of actu-atingrthe jaok 39 in order to cause this to opera-te the pump- 15- for theproduction of petroleum from said well.

For purposes of simplification let us rst consider the installation ofthe Vapparatus 10 as this is diagrammatically shown in FIG'. l. Thisshows the apparatus being lowered into the well with the plunger 18suspended' on the lower end of hollow piston rod 32, the latter be,-

Y ing suspended from the piston 76 so as to compress spring 40 as shownin FIGS. 1 and 7 and` with the jack 30 suspended on the productionrfluid pipeline 31. As diagrammatically shown, the barrel 14 of the pump15 has already been incorporated with the lower end of the tub.- ingstring 11 and the standing valve 17 has already been installed supportedby :the shoe 16 at the bottom of the barrel. The assembled apparatus 10. is thus allowed tov descend in the well until 'the piston l1.8 comesto resten top of the standing valve. 17 Yas Ishown in FIG. 2 and theiack 30 descends, sliding downwardly on the hollow piston rod 32 untilthe restraining ring 70 comes to rest on the springr S2 and compressesthis downwardly against the shear collar 81. As` shown in FIG. 2 lthelegs 67 at this time are disposed belowthe special coupling 26 in thepump tubing string 11. A i

The operator now' lifts on the pipeline 31 to lift the jack 30 a foot ortwo and lthen suddenly lowers the jack to bring the ring 70 downwardlyon the shear collar 81 with a bump which shears the'threaded screws 69connecting the lower ends of legs 67 to ring 70 'thereby freeing theselegs and permitting them to swing outwardly in response to springs 54until ltheir footings 68. engage- 'the inner surface of the pump tubingstring 11. The operator then lifts again on the production uid line 31until the legs 67 are expanded into the recess 29 when these legs comeopposite said recess. It i-s to be understood that the special coupling2d is located in relation to the lower end of the pump tubing string 11with particular reference to the distance the lower end of the plunger18 is from the lower ends of said legs, when said plunger is suspendedon the hollow piston rod 32 from the jack 30. The apparatus 1t) is sodesigned that the latter d-istance is such that when the jack 39 hasbeen lifted until the legs 67 expand into the annular recess 29 and theweight of the jack is then allowed to come to rest on said legs whichtransmits said weight to the section 2S of tubing string 11 and producesan expansion of the packer 65 to form a seal between jack 30 and section27 of tubing string 11, the lower end of the piston 18 will be spaced aslight dist-ance upwardly from the top of the standing valve 17.

Upon the shearing of shear screws 69 in Ithe humping operation abovedescribed, to release legs 67 from inward restraint, the ring 7d is nolonger supported by said legs and drops downwardly to thereafter rest ontop of the spring 82 as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown diagram-matically in FlG. l0, the upper end of the tubingstring 11 is closed and the upper end of pipe string 31 is supported atthe upper end of said tubing string by any suitable well known means,after the apparatus has been installed in the lower portion of thetubing string 11 as shown in FIG. 3. A pressure control valve 90 isprovided in pipe 31 by which a regulated degree of back pressure may beimposed on a column of production iluid contained in said pipe. Beforepumping operations may be commenced the line 31 must be filled with acolumn of production iluid or its equivalent and the pump tubing string11 lilled with a column of jack operating liquid. Any suitable pulsatingmechanism may then be connected with the upper end of tubing string 11to produce the necessary vertical pulsation of the column of operatingliquid therein which is required for actuating the jack 30. A preferredvmechanism 91 is diagrammatically shown in FIG. 10- for performing thisfunction.

rIhe pulsating mechanism 91 includes an operating liquid storage -tank92 from which ya continuously operating rotary pump 93 draws liquidthrough a pipe 94 and discharges this through a discharge pipe 95 whichconnects with a metering device 96 which may be of the gear-liquid-motortype and which rota-tes a crank 97 having -a roller 98 on its end in thedirection of the arrow applied thereto, the rate or this rotation beingregulated so that crank 97 will turn 180 each time an amount of liquidpasses through the meter 96 which is suthcient when it ows inwardlythrough the holes 86 in the lower end of cylinder 33 to lift piston 76from its lowermost to its uppermost position in said cylinder. EX-tending from the discharge end of meter 96 tothe upper end of pumptubing string 11 is a pipe 99. Connecting pipe 99 to storage tank 92 is'a by-pass pipe 1119 havving a valve 110 which is turned from on to orand vice versa by a 90 rotation thereof. Connected to a crank 111provided on valve 116 is a rod 112 the other end of which is guidedbetween rollers 113, said rod having lateral members 114 and 115 whichlie in the same Vertical plane with the orbit of roller 9S and areresponsive to said roller at the opposite horizontal lirnits of saidorbit to alternately close and open the valve 116. Connecting to thepipe 99 and to the pipe 100 so as to by-p'ass the valve 11), is a pipe116 having a safety valve g The distance which the coupling 26 is placedabove the standing valve 17 varies in accordance with the weight 'whichit is desired to incorporate in the hollow piston' rod 32 :so as toproduce a satisfactory balance between the uid head of the productionfluid column which presses downwardly on jack piston 76 and that of theoperating liquid column which presses upwardly on said piston. A studyof the character of the operating iluid to be produced from a given wellis made before the apparatus 19 -is designed for use in that well andthe piston 76 is loaded with enough weight provided by the length ofhollow piston rod 32 and tue number of weights 85 applied to the plunger18 so that this weight added to the uid head of the production fluidcolumn in production uid ine 31 downwardly against the piston 76 issuicient t0 rapidly return this piston from its upward to its downwardpositions in the jack cylinder 33 when the valve 110 is actuated so asto cause the ow of operating liquid discharged from the meter 96 intopipe 99 to by-pass through the pipe to the tank 92 and thus allow anamount of operating liquid equal in volume to that expelled throughholes 86 when the piston 76 descends, to flow from the upper end of thetubing string 11 through the pipe 99 and pass through the by-pass pipe100 to the tank 92.

The piston 76 is so balanced in the design of the apparatus 16 abovediscussed that there will be a sufcient preponderance of downward forcesapplied to the piston 76 to move this downwardly during its downstrokeso that the latter will be completed during the one-half revolution ofthe crank 97 during which the valve 110 is open. Then when the valve isagain closed by the crank 97 and operating liquid again iiows from themeter 96 through the pipe 99 to the tubing string 11, the piston 76 isat the bottom of the cylinder 33 and readyV to start another upstroke.The completion of the latter occurs simultaneously with the opening ofvalve 110 which starts another downstroke of piston 76.

The piston 76, hollow piston rod 32 and plunger 18 move verticallytogether and with each downstroke of the plunger 18 the standing valve17 closes and the traveling valve 19 opens and production fluid (suckedinto barrel 14 below the plunger 18 during its immediately priorupstroke) iiows upwardly through the plunger 18 and out of the openings25 therein and into the tubing string 11 1ocated between the plunger 13and the packer 65. With the downstroke of the piston 76 there is also afalling of the level of the production fluid Ain the pipe 31 at theupperend of the latter. This is necessary to fill the eX- pandingchamber within the cylinder 33 which takes place with the downwardmovement of the piston 76 therein.

During the upstroke of the pump plunger 18 the standing valve 17 opensand the traveling valve 19 is closed and the production ilu-id whichoccupies the space within the pump tubing string 11 and the pump barrel14 between the plunger 18 and the packer 65 is caused to ow through theopenings 25 into the plunger 18 and upwardly therefrom through thehollow piston rod 32 and into the jack piston 75. Thus during theupstroke of the jack piston 76, not only does the production uidoccupyingy the portion of the cylinder 33 between the upper end-ofpiston I6 and the level of this `reached at the end of its upstroke,have to be expelled upwardly Ainto the production tubing string 31 but avolume of productioniluid equal to that owing inwardly through openings25 into the plunger 18 during the upstroke of the latter must also bepropelled upwardly into said production tluid string 31. This causes theupper level Vof the production fluid column in the line 31 to not onlyreturn upwardly tothe point from which it fell during the downstroke ofthe piston 76 but said production tluid column at thetupper end ofstring 31 will deliver through the pressvre valve 90 a volume ofproduction huid-approximately equal to that volume which was pumpedupwardly fromfthe plunger 1S into the lower end of hollow piston rod 432during the upstroke of sa-id plunger.

Y From the above description of the operation of the present invention,it may be readily seen that the production fluid pumped upwardly fromthe jack 30 to the top of the well travels at an accelerated pacethrough a pipe- 3'1 of relatively restricted diameter thereby causingsaid fluid tofcarry a relatively heavy burden of sand from thewell'withoutthe sand having anyy opportunity for choking the apparatus.In wells where gas would develop under substantial pressure beneath thepacker 65 of the apparatus 10, the invention provides for utilizing thisgas to subsrtantiallyY assist the flow of production uid upward throughpipe 31. This is accomplished by providing orifices 120 inthe wall ofthe hollow piston rod 32 at a point therein which will bring theseorifices within the annular counter bore 61 in the axial bore 6ft of thecylindrical extension 50 of the packer mandrel 46, at the conclusion ofeach upstroke ofthe plunger 18 (FIG. 9).

Any pocket of gas under high pressure accumulated just below the packer65 within the tubing string 11 will have access through the ports 62 tothe counterbore 61 and from this w-ill force its way through orifices120 into the stream of production uid within the hollow tube 32 at andabove the level of the orifices 120. The orifices 120 are preferablyvery small in cross section (such as 1/32 inch in diameter) and may beinclined upwardly as shown in FIG. 9 totake advantage of any jet actionwhich the gas may have in facilitating upward movement of the productionuid as said gas is introduced into said uid.

FIG. 9 shows the collar 81 elevated to the level where itforcesl thering 70 against the lower end of packer mandrel extension 50 and snuglycompresses the spring 82. This of course is the extreme upper limit ofmovement of the collar 81 and the apparatus .is preferably operated toconclude the upstroke ofthe piston 76 without tightly compressing spring82 and still bring the orifices 120 into the counterbore 61 to permitdischarge of compressed gas through said orifices as above described.The coiled spring 40 acts as a cushion for decelerating the piston 76 atthe conclusion of its downstroke.

Entire plunger pumps are available which are known as insert pumps andare adapted to be suspended on a sucker rod or otherwise for insertioninto a well and bumped downwardly against a shoe at the lower end of thepump tubing string to lock the pump in place preliminary to startingpumping operations. The above described apparatus is well adapted forsuspending such an insert pump from the lower end of the tubular pistonrod 32, the locking of the insert pump in place being effected by thebumping operation which shears the shear screws 69 and frees theV legs67 for outward expansion. The withdrawal of the jack 39 and partssuspended therefrom may be accomplished any time following theinstallation thereof by simply withdrawing the pipeline 31 from thewell.

While only aA single embodiment of the invention is disclosed herein, itis to be understood that various modifications and changes may be madein this without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scopeof lthe appended claims.

Theclaims are:

1. In an oil well the combination of a pump including a pump standingvalve, a pump barrel and a pump plunger; a pump tubing string havingmeans at its lower en d forembodying the aforesaid pump with said stringso as to controladmission of production fluid to the lower end f saidstring; a hydraulic jack including a tubular cylinder having aperturedupper and lower heads and fitting loosely into said string, a pistonslidably reciprocable in said cylinder, a hollow piston rod connected tosaid piston and extending downward axially through the aperture in saidlower head, a plurality of legs having retracted and expanded positions,and an annular packer unit responsive to the weight of said jack whenthe latter is supported in said tubing string by said legs to form anannular seal between said jack and said string, said string having anannular internal radial recess for receiving said legs when the latterexpand; a ring surrounding said hollow rod behind lower ends of saidlegs; shear screw means securing said legs to said ring to temporarilyretain said legsretracted; spring means for expanding said legs when thelatter are free from restraint; a shear collar embodied with saidhollow` rod so as to engage said ring when said piston is near the endof its upstroke in said cylinder, said pump plunger being connected withthe lower end of said hollow piston rod; a production uid pipe ofrelatively small diameter extending downwardly in said pump tubingstring tQ attach to said upper cylinder head and connect with thevaperture therein, said pipe supporting saidV jack during theinstallation and withdrawal of said jack, the further lowering of saidjack after said plunger comes to rest at the lower end of said pumptubing string causing shearing of said shear screw means by said collarengaging said ring, thereby releasing said legs for use in supportingsaid jack by said legs expanding into said recess as said jack is liftedfollowing said shearing of said screw means, passages being provided insaid jack connecting the lower end of said jack cylinder below saidpiston with the space between said jack and said tubing string, saidpassages eing located above said packer, the free space within said pumptubing string being filled with an operating liquid, the free spacesinside said pipe, jack cylinder, hollow rod, pump and the spacesurrounding said hollow rod below said jack being filled with productiontluid, there being an aperture connecting the interior of said pumpplunger with the space within said pump tubing string below said packer;and means at the top of theV well for producing a pulsation in saidcolumn of operat-l ing liquid to cause reciprocation of said piston insaid jack cylinder and the operation of said pump to pump productionfluid upwardly through said hollow piston rod, said jaclt cylinder andsaid production pipe to the top of the well.

2..A combination as in claim 1 in which said pump plunger is providedwith a series of weights by which a varying amount of weight may beapplied to said plunger in each installation so as to produce the properbalance between the fluid heads of the production fluid column and theoperating liquid column so that the fluid head of the production uidcolumn on the downstroke ofY the jack plus the weights applied to saidplunger will overcome the iluid head of said operating liquid column andcause the ready return downwardly of they jack piston and the pumpplunger to their lowermost positions.

3. A combination as in claim l in which gas passage means is provided insaid lower jack cylinder head come municating with the axial aperturetherein at a certain level located below said packer, and in whichrelativelyl small diameter orifices are provided inr thev wall of saidhollow rod said orifices being so located that they arrive opposite saidpassage means and in communication therewith just asv the upstroke cfsaid jack and pump terminates whereby gas accumulated under high presurejust beneath said packer will be conveyed through said passage. meansand said orices into the production fluid flowing upwardly through saidhollow piston rod thereby accelerating the upward llow of said fluidthroughout the rest of its upward travel.

4. In a deep well pumping apparatus the combination of: a pump tubingstring; a reciprocating pump mounted in the lower end of said string andincluding a standing valve, a pump barrel and a pump plunger verticallyslid.- able in said barrel; a head carrying a packer; means for loweringsaid head downwardly through said tubing string to a point spaced abovesaid pump, said head having an axial bore; means for setting said packeragainst said tubing string; a hollow tubular rod slidably mounted insaid bore and extending downwardly from said head to said plunger towhich said rod is attached so as to Vcomvmunicate with the interior ofsaid plunger, there being an opening in said plunger communicating withthe interior of said tubing string below said packer; means forreciprocating said hollow rod to operate said pump and pump productionfluid upwardly to the top of said well,

there being relatively iine orices provided in said hollow tubing at alevel therein which is located close below said packer when said pumpplunger reaches the upper limit of its upstroke so that said oriiiceswill communicate with any gas collected under pressure just below saidpacker and transmit a portion of this gas into the production fluidowing upwardly through the interior of said hollow rod thereby giving agas-lift etect to said ilow and accelerating the pumping action.

5. In a deep well pumping apparatus, the combination of: ya pump tubingstring; a reciprocating pump including a .pump barrel which constitutesa downward extension of said tubing string, :a standing valve in thelower end of said barrel, and a valved pump plunger slida-ble in saidbarrel, said tubing stri-ng having an inside diameter permittingvertical travel of s-aid plunger throughout the length of said tubingstring when installing the plunger in or withdrawing it from saidbarrel; a production huid tube suspended in said tubing string; a jackcylinder suspended on and connected at its upper end with said tube,said cylinder having an axially apertured head at its lower end; a jackpiston slidable in said cylinder; a hol- Ilow piston rod connected t-osaid piston and extending slidably downward through said aperture insaid head, the lower end of said rod being connected to said pumpplunger, said rod providing a production iluid passage connecting saidplunger with said cylinder above said piston; packer means for packingoff the space between s-aid cylinder and said tubing string, there beingaperture means in said cylinder for connecting the interior thereofbeneath said piston to the space between said cylinder and said stringabove said packer means, there being aperture means in said plungerconnecting the interior thereof above the plunger valve with the spacebetween said hollow rod and said tubing string below said cylinder, yabody of production fluid lling said tube and spaces connected therewith,a body of operating liquid illing the tubing string above said packermeans; and means for imparting a pulsating motion to said operatingliquid to reciprocate said piston in said cylinder and said plunger insaid barrel thereby pumping production tiuid upwardly through said tube.

6. In a deep well pumping apparatus the combination of: a pump tubingstring; a reciprocating pump including a pump barrel which constitutes-a downward extension of said tubing string, a standing valve in thelower end of -said barrel, yand a valved plunger slidable in saidbarrel, said tubing string havin-g lan inside diameter permittingvertical travel of said plunger throughout :the length of said tubingstring when installing said plunger in or withdrawing it from saidbarrel; a head having an axial bore 'and carrying a packe-r, said packerbeing adapted to 'travel vertically in said tubing string when notexpanded; la hollow tubul-ar 4rod slidably mounted in said bore andextending downwardly from said head to unite with said plunger so as tosuspend said plunger on the lower end of said tubular rod, the lattercommunicating with the space within said tubing string close above saidplunger; suspension means for lowering said head, with said packer, saidhollow rod and said plunger suspended thereon, downwardly through saidtubing string to operationally install said plunger in said barrel;means for then setting said packer `against said tubing string; andmeans for reciprocating said hollow rod to operate said pump and pumpproduction fluid upwardly to the top of the well.

7. A combination as recited in claim 6 wherein a hydraulic jack isprovided which comprises the means for reciprocating said hollow rod,said jack including a cylinder, of which sai-d head comprises a lowerhead, said jack also including a piston mounted on said rod andreciprocating in said cylinder; and wherein -a pipe extending downwardlyinto said tubing string and connecting to said cylinder comprises asuspension means for lowering said jack and said plunger to install thelatter in said barrel, and wherein said pipe divides the space abovesaid packer within said tubing string into two vertical hydraulicpassages, one of the latter being occupied by a column of operatingliquid for transmitting power hydraulically to said jack from the top ofthe well and the other being occupied by a column of production uidresulting from increments of such iluid being delivered thereto fromsaid hollow rod.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,673,856 Winsor June 19, 1928 2,247,238 Johnston June 24, 19412,279,057 Reed Apr. 7, 1942 2,747,511 Turner et al May 29, 19562,917,000 English Dec. 15, 1959 2,980,027 Dulaney Apr. 18, 1961

1. IN AN OIL WELL THE COMBINATION OF A PUMP INCLUDING A PUMP STANDINGVALVE, A PUMP BARREL AND A PUMP PLUNGER; A PUMP TUBING STRING HAVINGMEANS AT ITS LOWER END FOR EMBODYING THE AFORESAID PUMP WITH SAID STRINGSO AS TO CONTROL ADMISSION OF PRODUCTION FLUID TO THE LOWER END OF SAIDSTRING; A HYDRAULIC JACK INCLUDING A TUBULAR CYLINDER HAVING APERTUREDUPPER AND LOWER HEADS AND FITTING LOOSELY INTO SAID STRING, A PISTONSLIDABLY RECIPROCABLE IN SAID CYLINDER, A HOLLOW PISTON ROD CONNECTED TOSAID PISTON AND EXTENDING DOWNWARD AXIALLY THROUGH THE APERTURE IN SAIDLOWER HEAD, A PLURALITY OF LEGS HAVING RETRACTED AND EXPANDED POSITIONS,AND AN ANNULAR PACKER UNIT RESPONSIVE TO THE WEIGHT OF SAID JACK WHENTHE LATTER IS SUPPORTED IN SAID TUBING STRING BY SAID LEGS TO FORM ANANNULAR SEAL BETWEEN SAID JACK AND SAID STRING, SAID STRING HAVING ANANNULAR INTERNAL RADIAL RECESS FOR RECEIVING SAID LEGS WHEN THE LATTEREXPAND; A RING SURROUNDING SAID HOLLOW ROD BEHIND LOWER ENDS OF SAIDLEGS; SHEAR SCREW MEANS SECURING SAID LEGS TO SAID RING TO TEMPORARILYRETAIN SAID LEGS RETRACTED; SPRING MEANS FOR EXPANDING SAID LEGS WHENTHE LATTER ARE FREE FROM RESTRAINT; A SHEAR COLLAR EMBODIED WITH SAIDHOLLOW ROD SO AS TO ENGAGE SAID RING WHEN SAID PISTON IS NEAR THE END OFITS UPSTROKE IN SAID CYLINDER, SAID PUMP PLUNGER BEING CONNECTED WITHTHE LOWER END OF SAID HOLLOW PISTON ROD; A PRODUCTION FLUID PIPE OFRELATIVELY SMALL DIAMETER EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY IN SAID PUMP TUBINGSTRING TO ATTACH TO SAID UPPER CYLINDER HEAD AND CONNECT WITH THEAPERTURE THEREIN, SAID PIPE SUPPORTING SAID JACK DURING THE INSTALLATIONAND WITHDRAWAL OF SAID JACK, THE FURTHER LOWERING OF SAID JACK AFTERSAID PLUNGER COMES TO REST AT THE LOWER END OF SAID PUMP TUBING STRINGCAUSING SHEARING OF SAID SHEAR SCREW MEANS BY SAID COLLAR ENGAGING SAIDRING, THEREBY RELEASING SAID LEGS FOR USE IN SUPPORTING SAID JACK BYSAID LEGS EXPANDING INTO SAID RECESS AS SAID